While Megan Keller, co-captain for the U.S. women’s hockey team, which won gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics, is from Farmington Hills, a medium-sized Michigan city near Detroit, her parents are from Williamsport and Loyalsock Township. Her grandmother, MaryAnn Keller lives in Williamsport and grandfather Wayne Winner and grandmother Lou Winner also live locally. As a child, Megan skated at the Penn Armory in Williamsport.

Megan Keller’s story, which was featured in the Feb. 17 edition of the Sun-Gazette, is more than feel-good story about someone with ties to our region.

It’s a story about how hard work, perseverance and a team work mentality can pay off.

“She has worked very hard and does an excellent job,” her grandfather, Wayne Winner, told the Sun-Gazette. “We are very proud of her for making it this far.”

As we have frequently noted in editorials acknowledging competitive successes posted by area residents or other people with local ties, that excellence never happens in a vacuum.

It requires sacrifices. It requires focus on the goals and discarding of distractions. In the case of team sports and team activities, it requires an ability to work with other people — to set aside any ego and put the team first. It requires practice — the kind of practice that pushes through discomfort and tiredness, that hones skills through honest assessment and self-correction.

It requires the kind of values and work ethic that we are confident Megan Keller’s parents and grandparents taught her. It requires the values and work ethic that have been a cornerstone of our own region and its own successes for generations.

We congratulate Megan Keller, her teammates and all the Olympians on their gold medals and all the successes and personal achievements to which their hard work, perseverance and team work led.